As is well known, wallcoverings, such as wallpaper, are typically marketed to customers via sample books which comprise a collection of various samples of wallcoverings from a particular manufacturer. By manually paging through such sample books a customer/purchaser is given an opportunity to choose a particular wallcovering according to the customer's own tastes and desires. Although such sample books have proven generally suitable for their intended purpose, they possess inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall effectiveness in the marketplace.
In this regard, the use of such prior art sample books limits the number of wallcoverings that can be displayed at any given time to essentially the one wallcovering visible on the open page of the sample book. As such, the customer must view the samples essentially one at a time by manually turning pages within the prior art wallcovering sample book. This makes comparisons difficult and is an extreme inconvenience when attempting to decide between several different wallcoverings.
The use of such prior art wallcovering sample books also limits viewing of the samples essentially to a single customer. It is virtually impossible for several customers having different wallcovering needs to utilize a single sample book simultaneously.
Further, the prior art wallcovering sample books are typically heavy and awkward to manipulate. This is a problem since it is often desirable to carry one or more sample books to a different location in order to observe particular samples under specific lighting conditions or next to another sample or object. Also, the size and weight of the sample book makes moving the same extremely inconvenient and may require the aid of a sales person.
In addition, frequently the customer desires to take a sample of a wallcovering off premises so that the sample may be viewed in the environment in which it is to be used in order to judge the aesthetic compatibility of the sample to its environment. This entails transporting the sample book from the retail outlet to the location where a new wallcovering is desired. Removal of the sample book from the retail outlet reduces that outlet's marketing effectiveness and incurs the risk that the sample book may be damaged or not returned.
As such, although the prior art sample book has recognized to a limited extent the problem of providing customers with a means of viewing various wallcovering samples and the problem of providing a means of viewing a desired wallcovering sample in the environment in which it is to be used, the proposed solutions have to date been ineffective in providing a satisfactory remedy.